Golden Nuggets: A New BCS Conference?

After picking up Boise St earlier this summer, the Mountain West Conference has taken two more of the top programs from the WAC--Fresno State and Nevada.  While it looks like the WAC will fade away, is the MWC on the verge of becoming a BCS conference?  One uncertainty in the conference's future is BYU, whose football program is exploring the option of becoming independent.

"We're simply looking at getting better, and we got better tonight with Fresno State and Nevada joining our league," Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said in a conference call Wednesday night.

Thompson spoke after returning from a meeting in Philadelphia with Comcast and CBS officials, who said they wanted the league and its television network -- The Mtn. -- to reach more markets. The league started the network a few years ago, giving up national exposure on ESPN for more scheduling freedom.

"[Expansion] just made lot of sense at this particular juncture. We got better and we helped our TV position," he said.

The MWC also helped its bargaining position with BYU, which is reportedly mulling going independent in football and joining the WAC in all other sports. The Cougars have not confirmed anything and might need another look before making anything official. At this rate, there might not be much of a WAC left to join.

After the jump Shane Vereen catches the attention of the Hornung Award, the Memorial Stadium renovations relieve overcrowding in the West concourse, and the depth chart becomes clearer after days 11 and 12 of fall camp.

Football

• Shane Vereen is one of 42 players on the Hornung Award watch list, given to the most versatile player in college football.
• The ongoing Memorial Stadium renovation should improve crowd management in the West side of the stadium.  As many of the offices have been demolished, the concourse is now much wider.  This ought to alleviate some of the dangerously crowded conditions experienced last year.
• Daily Cal wraps up some major developments during the first week of fall camp.
• Fall camp, Day 11:  Sofele and Ross will most likely field kicks this fall, with Conte occasionally returning kicks.  Even if he's Vereen's backup, Sofele will continue to play a significant role on special teams.  Ross says the tremendous ability of Bryan Anger forces him to field punts under the toughest circumstances.  Fielding punts from other teams is easy by comparison.  Tedford confirmed that S Michael Coley and TE Jacob Wark will play as true freshmen this year.  Several players are no longer wearing red jerseys, including Michael Calvin who has recovered from the mild injury he sustained last week.
• Day 12: The Bears practiced several live-game situations during the scrimmage.  The young receivers performed well, especially in the mental side of the game.  Giorgio Tavecchio is getting close to locking up kickoff duties for the season, though he and D'Amato are still competing for field goal duties.  Neither was very impressive during the scrimmage, as they missed several field goals.  Tedford said the QB depth chart this season will be the same as it was last year (Riley-Sweeney-Mansion).  The young receivers continue to impress coaches.  One of the highlights of the day was when Kaelin Clay gained 48 yards on a reverse.  The running backs combined for 6 TDs, led by Dasarte Yarnway (10 carries, 38yds, 3TDs).  Sweeney demonstrated his quick feet with rushes of 17 and 27 yards.  The longest kick return of the day was a 33-yard return by Sofele.